This "hoax" was floating around on
the humor lists, and a reader sent us a copy.

Cliff Walker debunks it.

This is VERY VERY strange!! Try it!!

WEIRD EXPERIMENT

This is weird. Follow the instructions!

NO PEEKING AHEAD!

Free will or synaptic wiring? You be the judge. Do the following exercise,
guaranteed to raise an eyebrow. There's no trick or surprise. Just follow
these instructions, and answer the questions one at a time and as quickly
as you can! Again, as quickly as you can but don't advance until you've
done each of them ... really.
Now, arrow down (but not too fast, you might miss something).

Think of a number from 1 to 10

Multiply that number by 9

If the number is a 2-digit number, add the digits together

Now subtract 5

Determine which letter in the alphabet corresponds to the number you ended
up with (example: 1=a, 2=b, 3=c, etc.)

Think of a country that starts with that letter

Remember the last letter in the name of that country

Think of the name of an animal that starts with that letter

Are you thinking of Kangaroos in Denmark?

If not, you're among the 2% of the population whose minds are
different enough to think of something else. 98% of people will answer
with kangaroos in Denmark when given this exercise. Freaky, huh? Keep this
message going. Forward it to people you know and see if they can see if
they are usual or unusual.

Most people who would do exercises like this (European-Americans;
subjects of the United Kingdom) have heard of Denmark, may (on a very off
chance) think of the Dominican Republic, and probably have never heard
of Djibouti. Thus, your letter is probably "K" (a letter that
does not appear in many Western alphabets).

(I picked the kitten as my animal, which is not really a proper animal
name. Yahoo's main (rough) list of mammals goes straight from Jaguars to
Leopards, so I looked further and consulted the Smithsonian's section on
animals.)

Not many would pick the others from the Smithsonian's entire list of
common animal names that begin with the letter "K":